Decisions
by flyingbouffont
Summary: Takes place right after The Doctor in the Photo. Brennan has a decision to make.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. I'm making no profit.**

**Takes place right after The Doctor in the Photo**

**This is my first fic in a very very long time. So let me know what you think. I wrote this as a One-shot, but it could be turned into a longer story if anyone is interested. Thank you to 7 Ace to betaing.**

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**Decisions**

"Are you sure there isn't anyone I can call for you?" Booth asked as he pulled up in front of Brennan's apartment building.

"No, Booth, thank you." Brennan looked over at the man she just told one of her biggest regrets to. She wiped a lone tear from her cheek, "Thank you for the ride home. I will send over the paperwork for the body in the morning." She turned and opened the door, sliding from the SUV; she walked towards her building without looking back.

Booth sat in the SUV and watched as Brennan walked into her building. Of all the things Booth thought would happen tonight, Brennan telling him that she regretted not giving them a chance was not one of them. What he told Brennan was true, Hannah was not a consolation prize; he loved her. Every couple has a moment, and Brennan and his simply didn't sync. He would have loved Brennan, his Bones, he still did, but not the same now. He told her that night he was going to move on; he had to. Hannah could be his long-term future. Bones was the one that got away or pushed away, as the case might be.

Booth turned on his blinker and pulled back into the traffic and headed for home and Hannah. She would have a late dinner waiting for him, nothing fancy, but she was good at making something out of whatever was on hand.

Temperance walked into her apartment and locked the door behind her. She shrugged out of her coat placing it in the closet so it could begin to dry out. She then walked to the bathroom turning on the shower, letting the room fill with steam. Letting her clothes pool at her feet she stared at herself in the mirror. She looked warn out, maybe she needed a few days away. "Running again Temperance?" she asked herself. She glanced down at the sink noticing her white knuckles as she gripped the edge of the vanity. Shaking her head, she walked into the shower letting the hot water wash away the last hour.

An hour later, she was walking into the Jeffersonian. Micka smiled and walked with her, chatting about one of the series he has been to recently. Brennan was only half listening; she was making a pro and con list in her head. Before she could make any decisions she needed to pack the bones that had stared so many feelings in her.

Putting on her blue lab coat, she walked to the foot of the table and studied the bones; the slight curves that the ribs took and the roundness of the bones in the phalanges. These things made sense to her; they always did. Closing her eyes, Brennan released a long slow breath, righting herself. Once she opened her eyes, she set out to complete the routine of packing the body so the family could pick it up. One hour and twenty minutes the body was packed as well as the CDs and paperwork that would need to be returned to hospital. She turned off the lights, looking once more at the containers, she closed her eyes briefly before walking back to her office.

Sitting at her desk, she wondered how everything go out of control. She knew how, she let Booth in; she let him behind the walls she carefully constructed over the years. "This is what happens Temperance. You let someone in, but not all the way, never all the way, and now you're alone, expect the way things are."

Brennan looked around her office and calculated the amount of time it would take to pack up her office and be gone before anyone would notice. She had only been back for a few months and already she was ready to run again; after all, running is what had gotten her where she was not, why not continue the trend?

She stood and stared to collect some of the items from their shelf, placing them neatly into a box she had gotten from the closet. She had filled the box halfway when she picked up the photo the team had taken after their first case back. She silently traced the edge of the frame looking at the photo. Angela smiled so brightly while leaning into Hodgins. Cam had a look on her face one that Temperance has seen many times, a mix of happiness of finishing a case, but worried what the next one would bring. Booth sat next to Cam with Wendell on next to him and then her. Brennan frowned slightly at the thought of leaving them again. Angela was pregnant; she would want Brennan around as her "sister" and Cam told her breaking up the team was her doing and that is something she did not want to do.

Shaking her head, the list of pros and cons tipped and she started to empty the box again, replacing things she has just packed. As she finished she stared at the photo, noticing that her family had changed. She may have missed her moment with Booth, but she had other people who would miss her, who needed her. Temperance Brennan would not run from them. She would help Angela with her food choices and baby things that Angela would want her to do. She would work in the lab solving cases and keeping her team together. She would make a difference with every case she helped solved.

And Booth, well Booth was going to be more difficult to deal with, but she would. She was Temperance Brennan and she was not leaving her family again. Booth had moved and it was time to put the feeling she had for him where they belong; in the back of her mind and in the corner of her heart. He would always own a small part of her heart, much like she believed she once owned a part of his.

Taking one more look around, she put on her coat and picking up her purse she turned off the light and walked towards the door. "Good night Micka." She nodded to the night watchman who opened the door for her.

"Good night Dr. Brennan." Micka watched as she walked to her car not turning away until she was inside and started the engine. "One of these days, Temperance, I hope you find your smile again," he said to the taillights that were fading into night.


End file.
